Live broadcast on public TV.
─Wow~
─Huh…
─Huh?
─Tsk
There were exclamations that didn’t seem to qualify as commentary.
No one had scored a goal.
It was just the audience that descended from the VIP lounge because the game wasn’t going too well.
─You’re quite beautiful.
─Really, wow… Hahaha.
Do-hee caught on camera was simply pushing her sunglasses up.
─Ah, I see now, these are members of the girl group Debonaire, right?
─Yes, Debonaire. They’re super popular in Korea. My daughter loves them, and I really like them too. Hahaha.
Of course, the commentators quickly regained their mind and continued with the soccer commentary.
─They must have come to cheer for Korea today.
─Our Taeguk Warriors will surely gain strength from the cheers and score a goal, no doubt!
─The members of Debonaire will definitely be the Goddesses of Victory!
But that was from the perspective of the commentators.
It wasn’t the perspective of the viewers.
Just looking at the community could tell you that.
[What’s Do-hee doing right now?]
[These are some seriously hot Korean cheerleaders.]
[All members of Debonaire are watching the World Cup live.]
Already, countless posts about the Debonaire members were rapidly flooding the bulletin board.
[Seriously, they’re just so freaking pretty.]
[Do-hee smiling without sunglasses.]
[Kim Ji-su waving the Taeguk flag lololol.]
[Goddess of Victory Kim Na-eun’s smile.]
[(ㅇㅎ) Jiwoo’s off-shoulder underarm, wow.]
[Kim Seo-yoon enthusiastically waving to the crowd.]
In fact, it was a community that would continuously explode with reactions and memes even if a regular beauty was caught on camera.
─But wait, why are they in America?
└They probably flew out after hitting the Billboard and setting up a schedule in the U.S. lololol.
└(Trailer video) They’re at the LA Music Festival right now, and it’s a huge buzz, plus a trailer has dropped for them appearing on the famous Colin show in America.
└Looks like they’re really doing well.
There was no need to say more if the target was the most popular girl group in Korea and celebrities deemed the most beautiful.
[Do-hee sighing as the ball hits the post lolololㅠ]
[Beer model Kim Seo-yoon’s real-time furious beer shot.]
Thanks to that, the cameramen of domestic broadcasting companies were rather openly filming the members until they returned to the lounge.
[Jiwoo reacting to an opponent’s foul.gif]
[Na-eun’s expression turning fierce after conceding a goal.]
[Revisiting Do-hee’s match at Man City.]
Every time the members appeared on screen, the posts were updated endlessly.
It was only natural that they were mentioned even after the game was lost.
[Who cares if they lose a bit of ball play?]
─(Photo) The cheerleader totally stole the show lololol.
[???: The team lost 2:1 but she’s smiling!!!]
─(Photo) Hehe, Debonaire is so pretty…
[Korea is way awesome when it’s K-pop, lololol.]
SDVIMVFoanVzY1YwSVhjamMzUkt1UW1NbklWZUd2R0x0QktvT1hLL3UzYXBtek9ycVFJdWtFUTdnZ1JLaDVlMA
─(Photo) K-POP, so reassuring!!
[What if Do-hee becomes the president of the Football Association?]
─No, she’s just so incredibly pretty, it’s ridiculous.
Of course, this wasn’t just a situation exclusive to male communities.
Female communities were even worse, if anything.
After all, if it’s an idol, the attention is a hundred times more.
[Debonaire was at the game today, totally a stunner.]
[The spotlight was more on Debonaire being there than the game itself.]
[I went to see Debonaire, saw her up close; she’s a real-life goddess.]
[Chiyo waving the national flag, LOL.]
The issue was that the fandom and fan battles were in full swing today as well.
[Honestly, going to the game openly is so annoying, LOL. The attention-seeking begins again.]
[Ranked first in buzz today, other fandoms are losing it, LOL.]
[Watching Debonaire is hilarious, LOL. Did you see Jiwoo pretending to support her on Instagram?]
[What’s with the concept of going to watch Debonaire, LOL.]
But the important thing was…
That this reaction wasn’t limited to just Korea.
─Booked my flight to Korea, no cap.
─I don’t care about the game anymore. I’m here just for them.
─These Korean girls are the most beautiful I’ve ever seen.
─Are all Korean women that pretty?
─I really want to go back to Korea.
─IG please IG IG IG.
The fact that it exploded overseas.
*
There was really no special intent.
“Really no intent?”
“Hmmm, are we really going to challenge the 30 million Do-hee on Instagram?”
“Ugh, go away.”
I just wanted to experience watching a World Cup game live, just once.
I found out that the American World Cup overlapped with my scheduled trip to the US, so I thought it’d be a hassle to go alone and instead got tickets for the members to go together.
“I even got the tickets…”
But I didn’t consider at all that I might appear on screen.
Usually, I planned to watch from the VIP lounge.
“Do-hee-chan! You hit 9 million on Instagram yourself!”
“30 million Do-hee responded. Unni, congratulations.”
“Of course, it doesn’t matter since Korean soccer lost. Good job.”
“…”
Chiyo Unni ran away as if she was filming.
“Ah.”
Still, I didn’t feel too bad about it.
Sure, soccer lost, but I won, right?
“Victory isn’t just your average victory…”
As soon as I woke up in the morning, Manager Young-ho beamed at us while presenting a newspaper.
[Los Angeles Times] Korea’s beautiful audience, KPOP idol Debonaire set to appear on Colin’s show.
We had made it into a local daily newspaper, of all things.
And it was quite a big feature.
There were even tons of online articles from the US that excited fans shared on fan cafes.
[New York Times | KPOP idol spotted during the Korean World Cup match, millions of followers increase]
[The Athletic | Debonaire, Korean idol rumored to have beautiful looks during the World Cup!]
[USA Today | Korean idol who captivated fans worldwide with beauty during the World Cup]
I never expected that major sports dailies would write about us.
Yes, it wasn’t the victory from the soccer match that felt good.
It was our future…
“What the?”
At that moment, I felt a warm and sticky sensation on my back. It was probably Woo-ah Unni after the shoot, probably swapping out kimchi, no, sushi.
“Unni, is it all done?”
She was the only one among the members who would cling like this anyway.
“Don’t sneakily wipe your sweat off me?”
“I don’t smell at all.”
How hot is it outside, and why so much sweat?
“Ugh, it’s gross.”
“Hey, I’m totally wounded right now…”
What kind of wound is that?
“Even strangers call it ‘Sungsoo,’ how can Do-hee not!”
“Sungsoo, my foot. And it’s only because they don’t know you. Even my mother wouldn’t call my sweat that.”
I peeled Woo-ah Unni off me, still clinging and making my back sticky.
“Okay, I got it, so stop wiping. And stop reading those comments too.”
“Okay, okay~”
When did our Woo-ah Unni become so twisted?
She used to be just cute when she was younger.
These days, I’m baffled at why she enjoys my disgusted reactions even more…
“Oh right, Do-hee, I got a DM yesterday?”
“Huh? Out of nowhere?”
Woo-ah Unni pulled out her phone from the pocket of her discarded outerwear.
“But didn’t you turn off the DM function? I told you to turn all that stuff off.”
“I barely check anyway. But look at this.”
She presented the message screen proudly.
The sender’s name felt oddly familiar.
“…Huh?”
After clicking on it, I understood.
It was a soccer player who played in the World Cup a few days ago.
“No way.”
The content of the message was even more outrageous.
[Sorry for losing, Woo-ah came to support me]
[I will work hard to win next time]
I’m not sure, but they definitely have no prior acquaintance.
In other words, this guy was clearly expressing interest in our Woo-ah Unni out of the blue.
“W-what is this guy?”
“Seriously, who does he think he is? No professionalism? What the hell.”
“Seriously, losing at soccer like a champ…”
“Unni, don’t even read this stuff to me…”
“You should just focus on playing soccer properly.”
“A national team player sending DMs to our Woo-ah Unni? Seriously, it pissed me off.”
“Well, it’s soccer; you can lose.”
“Are you seriously thinking about flirting with another girl in the meantime?”
“That can happen.”
“People are diverse, after all.”
“Unni, that’s why I told you to turn off the features from the start.”
“Uh?”
“But how dare I let someone like that near my precious Woo-ah Unni?”
“This is the next unforgivable thing after Do-ah.”
“Turn it off right now.”
Unni looks a little flustered.
“If you don’t turn that off, all sorts of messages and pictures will flood in. Turn it off now.”
“Okay…”
Yeah, my Unni probably just wanted to show me because the situation was amusing.
She was just trying to playfully tease me a bit.
“But seriously, what’s up with that guy?”
But I’m really worried that our innocent Woo-ah Unni, who hasn’t even dated, might end up with a loser.
“Ugh… You know I wasn’t trying to annoy you, right?”
“I know~”
Right.
Thinking about how Do-ah couldn’t answer when I asked if she had a crush just makes my heart ache even more.
“Think about it; is that kind of guy normal?”
“No, right, no.”
Even though it’s cool indoors, I’m sweating all over.
“Of course, I respect you, so even if you date, I don’t plan on meddling.”
“What? You’re not going to meddle?”
Why are you disappointed?
“No, of course, I will get involved.”
“Right?”
I’m serious, don’t laugh.
I’ve watched over you with an adult’s heart since I was a kid…
“I really should give you a dating lesson someday.”
“Do-hee, you haven’t dated either.”
“I could have, but I chose not to.”
“It’s me.”
I was popular even in my previous life, you know.
I just couldn’t date because I was too busy.
Seriously.
Honestly, for real.
“Anyway, make sure to turn off all DMs from now on, got it?”
“Got it~”
Phew, I hope I didn’t annoy Unni for no reason.
Is there any good news around?
Like suddenly gaining 40 million followers on Instagram.
Although getting 30 million just yesterday was quite the deal, it’s still early.
Not that the number of Instagram followers is that important…
But it does serve as a somewhat numerical indicator of popularity…
“Do-hee, aren’t you watching soccer?”
“Soccer?”
“The Japan match just started.”
“Uh?”
“Look, Seo-yoon Unni is watching seriously over there—”
*
“I’m Kim, you know?”
“………”
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